Bank restricts access to bank account

[merights]

So long story short

Disabled Single mum with hypertension, panic attacks and palpitations of 2 young kids

Lost job months ago

Things are very hard
My parents& family decided to send me money to help pay bills and groceries and medications etc

£1500 was sent but the money was seized by the bank since Saturday
They asked a few questions like who the sender is to me and where the sender got the money from & what I am going to use the money for and that once answered, they will reply with an hour

They said I should answer all the question I can etc

I did answer the questions I could and I still do not have access to my money

My elderly parents sent lots of documents of their means of income from their properties which they rent out etc which I sent to the bank today

The bank also asked for chats with date etc with sender of the money. I got screenshots which I sent to bank today over 2 hours ago.

I am starving and kids too
My BP gone through the roof
Still no access to my money.

What right had the bank to do this to me? Holding my money and restricting access to my account for over 48 hours.

What else can I do? I am in tears here
My parents work hard for their money & I have always worked hard for mine until unemployed few months ago

well if they do why aren't they using it to transfer? they are elderly yet can go to the change office and live abroad. are they claiming uk benefits and pensions by any chance?

Western union is easy. They can even go into a branch and they'll do it for them if for some reason they find the online difficult.

They are not claiming UJ benefits & never lived in the UK

I said the bureau de change they used is also got a UK based office

Their bank abroad said it might take up to 5 working days for me to get the money & they used the bureau de change that is quicker.

Monzo, Revolut etc are absolutely great until they aren't and then they are a shit show in my experience. I had issues with a non UK based Revolut account which had some regulatory payment limits in that country which still applied once the money was exchanged and I was trying to send to my own UK account. I felt completely stuck with money in the account and exchanged but not able to send. I almost got scammed in my desperation to seek help because the Revolut support function were doing absolutely nothing except waste hours of my time. The penny suddenly dropped and as soon as I lowered the amount I was trying to send below the foreign regulators limit it was fine. I also had to provide reams of paperwork to confirm where the money had come from. I'm so sorry you are stuck between a rock and a hard place.

Thanks all, they have now allowed me access to my account.

Bureau de Changes (including UK ones) are considered high risk too - they are well known for being used traditionally for money laundering.

@kitchenhelprequired

Thanks, it is very hard and difficult isn't it?

I shall be closing my Monzo and tell everyone I have recommended them to to close their as well

Banking should not cause this much stress & I completely understand they have a duty to stop money laundering etc

I am surprised by the different posts from people 🤦🏾‍♀️ anyway all sorted

Hello everyone,

We've had a number of reports from people concerned about this thread so, as we usually do in these circs, we're putting our heads round the door with some important reminders.

Right now we can't see any evidence to indicate that the OP isn't above board – if we did, we'd remove the thread straight away. The OP has certainly been on our Talk Boards for many years.

However, as we're sure you can all appreciate, we can never vouch 100% for anyone here. Tis the internet after all.

With this in mind, we always ask ALL users to remember that not everyone on the internet is who they say they are – and remind folk not to give more to another poster, either financially (in cash or gifts) or emotionally (in time or care and support) than they'd be prepared to lose if things went wrong.

Though, we strongly advise against parting with any cash or giving away your personal details, and if you receive a PM which makes you uneasy - report it to us and we’ll take a look.

We've compiled some useful links posted by Mumsnetters into a financial issues webguide, so that people experiencing difficulties can find all the relevant information in one place.

Sorry to hijack your thread briefly there, OP – we really hope you get it all sorted soon.

Oh well that's lucky!

@LivMumsnet

I am shocked & surprised by your post and people contacting Mumsnet 🤦🏾‍♀️

I posted here for suggestions on what I can do about the restriction on my account I did not ask or beg anyone for money at all directly or on PM

I got a handful of very helpful advice and some eye opening posts about Monzo bank and the way they operate etc

& some called me and parents money launderers etc.

Who is are the people that contacted mumsnet about my post? Speak up publicly and make your concerns known publicly and show me when I solicited for money here directly or indirectly or PM.

Mondo probably have to be careful because their very convenience makes them attractive to money laundering types.

I am a landlord and needed to make a large payment to a tradesman following a plumbing emergency. It got stopped which was embarrassing. When I spoke to my banks fraud people they explained that the tradesman’s new Monzo account was a red flag in itself.

Ditto freeholders needed to set up a bank account quickly. Company accounts with high street banks take months to organise, so we used an on line bank. Almost everyone who tried to pay their next service charge ended up having to speak to their own banks before transfers could be made. A year on and the account is established and we don’t get problems. However the ease of opening has a cost in that the bank are very inflexible and won’t allow a second signatory etc, so we will probably have to go back to the high street.

It's not personal. Holders of proceeds of crime will want to get money out of the origin country. Bank algorithms will be set to flag up potentially dodgy transactions. Your parents transaction raised those flags.

Oh, just grow up @merights. Shocked and surprised… seriously?

Hello @merights - please don't take it personally, we always try to post this sort of reminder to folk on threads like this.

Also, please bear in mind that this reminder is posted with your protection in mind too. As explained in our previous post, we can never vouch for anyone 100% on here.

When folk are in a difficult and worrying situation, such as the one you have described, it can be all too easy to leave yourself vulnerable to strangers who don't have your best interests at heart.

We hope this makes sense but do contact us directly - [email protected] - if you'd like to chat further about our moderation policies.

I am glad you got sorted OP, it must have been very stressful.
However, nobody on here called you or your parents anything at all, people were trying to offer explanantions and suggestions

No advice but sorry this has happened to you. It should have been sorted by now! We regularly send money between family accounts when finances are tight without issues.

Can all those you sent private messages to Mumsnet reporting my post come out here publicly and explain their reasoning for reporting my post

Stop being a coward and show yourselves here and stop hidding behind PM to Mumsnet.

I did not solicit for money at all I asked for advise not money.

@Hoppinggreen yes, some people did- go through the post throughly

Nobody said you or your parents were laundering money. All people said was that it was the type of transaction that a bank would be suspicious of and would have been picked up by their controls for a number of reasons. Banks have a duty to act when they have suspicions. It doesn't mean anyone was laundering money but that their systems picked it up as unusual activity.

I have, some people said that the activity suggested classic Money laundering.
Just checked again and nobody said thats what you were doing.
I appreciate its an awful thing to happen but it was the system not the individual that caused it

They cant do that, its against Talk Guidelines.
If people suspect a post isnt genuine they have to report to MNHQ not comment or they can be suspended or banned.

As someone who has worked for a bank for over 15 years - an account used for infrequent transactions suddenly receiving a large transfer in, using a bureau de change (?) is sus as fuck.

I'm sorry you're struggling but the bank is still a bank and has rules a guidelines about money laundering to adhere to.

I reported your post
Not saying you aren't genuine but this site is plagued by begging posts and sometimes they are in disguise. I have always and will
Always report a post like this!

So many issues with your posts lol the money being the least of them

No one is being cowardly, don't be daft but youve been perhaps understandably chippy throughout when no one has accused you of anything

Its like the posters who think Aldi is assuming them of being a shoplifter because they check that people's bags for life are empty - it's not about you, they are managing global risk

Op you got it sorted just ask MN to delete your post.
Some on here are to stuck up and will nit pick at anything.
Glad you ok and got your money sorted.